If Elway felt he himself was ready to be the full-time GM, why even keep Xanders around for the draft? Did they stick a dunce cap on his head and tell him to sit in the corner for the last few months? Doesn't make much sense to me.

Drayton florence signs for two years. Remember him as the dude that caught a deflected jake plummer fade in a rainy game back in 06 and being pretty average for the most part. Dont really like the signing but I can see the reasoning.

With all tje depth at corner now, what about moving Chris Harris to safety? He played great in the slot last year, but I dont see porter/florence playing as the dime/4th corner. Still optimistic about moore, but he really needs to improve a lot.

Drayton florence signs for two years. Remember him as the dude that caught a deflected jake plummer fade in a rainy game back in 06 and being pretty average for the most part. Dont really like the signing but I can see the reasoning.

With all tje depth at corner now, what about moving Chris Harris to safety? He played great in the slot last year, but I dont see porter/florence playing as the dime/4th corner.

If Elway felt he himself was ready to be the full-time GM, why even keep Xanders around for the draft? Did they stick a dunce cap on his head and tell him to sit in the corner for the last few months? Doesn't make much sense to me.

Consider John's perspective - who else was gonna order the pizza and get the take out from that all-night Chinese food joint?

Teams often make these moves post-draft. You really don't want to throw out a guy who has been involved in the evaluation process (both pro and college) for that year ahead of the draft - you'd lose the informed perspective he could provide and run the risk of your draft plans ending up in the hands of another organization.

Drayton florence signs for two years. Remember him as the dude that caught a deflected jake plummer fade in a rainy game back in 06 and being pretty average for the most part. Dont really like the signing but I can see the reasoning.

It's a fairly solid move by the organization. It's much like the Mike Adams pickup - get some veteran depth to go with the youth. I think between Harris, Bolden, Thompson and Vaughn someone will emerge as a solid starter, but better to let them develop than to feel forced to throw them into the fire.

As for Harris at safety, I think a lot depends on your evaluation of Moore. Adams starting at FS gives Moore some time to develop. If you have Harris and Moore compete in TC, what happens if Harris is the clear winner? Cut Moore? I'm not sure if the team has the stomach to part with a 2nd rounder so soon.

Not much of a surprise considering the number of CB's we had on the roster. Vaughn had his chance last year and I guess he didn't show enough.

Picking up a run-blocking FB is an interesting turn of events - certainly shows that Fox and McCoy intend to stick with some of their offensive principles. I honestly think that's a good thing. McGahee looked good running out of the I/offset-I last year and play action off those looks was effective even with Tebow throwing the ball.

Interesting game. It's on again tonight on NFLN for anyone who missed it.

Thoughts:

* Oz is the second best QB on the team... though with Weber and Hanie as competition that's not a huge accomplishment. He's also got the best arm. The question is whether his brain is up to the challenge.

* Manning still needs to shake off a little rust, but even then we haven't had that kind of field general on the team in a long, long time.

* Manning to Decker is going to be a deadly combo - if you are playing fantasy, I like Decker over DT by a fair margin.

* Speaking of WRs, there's a pretty fierce competition for #4 and below. Hill, Willis and Robinson all played well. I'll be watching this closely over the next few games.

* I wonder if Cornelius Ingram can finally stay healthy? He certainly shows his talent out there. He's the #3 TE if his knee holds up...

* The RB competition is interesting. Guys like JJ and Omon buried at the bottom of the depth chart made solid cases for themselves. The problem is that Lance Ball can do a bit of everything, and that kind of utility is hard to beat out when it comes to the lower roster spots.

* We don't have much depth on the OL. The number 2 group looks really bad.

* The approach of going after productive, team leader types at LB in the draft / UDFA seems to be paying off. Irving, Trevathan, Johnson and Mohamed all chipped in against the Bears. Depth + youth is a nice combination.

* I'm not sure if we have a real DL or if the Bears' OL is really that bad. Maybe both. Apart from Dumervil's boneheaded penalties, pretty much everyone who put their hand down on the line made a contribution.

Anyway, it was a pretty good start to the preseason... though that may not mean much in the scheme of things. Next stop, the Seahawks.

Hanie came in after Manning, so theoretically he's the #2. But both his reads and accuracy left something to be desired. He did improve as the game went on, though, and seemed to be victimized by some of our worst OL play.

Osweiler showed off not only his arm strength, but also a degree of poise I wasn't expecting.

heh, that sounds unsurprising. though i can't imagine his accuracy was worse than brady quinn's.

Oh no question, he's better than Quinn. Maybe it was just jitters from being in front of the obviously hostile crowd. Too many overthrows on open receivers. He did settle down a bit and threw some decent passes. Other than Manning, he was the one Broncos the homer announcers really talked about... mainly how he always looks decent in preseason but then sucked when it matter last year.

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meh. i know i hated the guy, but it's so hard to get excited about a guy showing off against the third team. maybe after saturday's game i'll put away the sour grapes.

I didn't like the selection either - it was very much a luxury pick. So I'm going to hold him to a high standard given his draft position. He *should* beat Hanie out for that #2 spot and from what I've seen/heard so far in the offseason it seems like he's making a decent case. Whether the team will feel comfortable having a rookie backing up Manning is another story, though.

Tamme's drop on that TD was inexcusable. I hope Manning ripped him a new one after that botch...

Even with 3 turnovers and the bad drops, our starters outplayed Seattle. It was when the backups came in for the 2nd half that things got ugly. It all begins with the backup OL, which is apparently total dogshit. That puts a pretty hard cap on how effective the backup offense can be. It doesn't help that we have Lance Ball as the backup RB either, whose main selling feature seems to be the fact that he's good on special teams. Oz didn't look great either - just too slow with his decision-making. It was a chance for him to lock up the #2 spot, but he whiffed on it.

I feel better about our depth on defense. Miller and Doom had early nights after seemingly being held for most of the first quarter, but the defense still held up pretty well without them (Irving and Ayers taking those spots for the 2nd quarter). We've got at least 6 solid DBs for the first time in forever. The DL rotation is pretty good as well except Bannon, who was very weak against the run. The LB play is inconsistent, but that's partly because of the amount of youth in that unit. Mays doesn't help either - yes, he hits hard when he connects but he still whiffs or guesses wrong too often - and I think he will eventually be replaced by one of our young guys. In fact, I can easily see a situation where our starting LB's have less that 3 years of NFL experience *combined*... which is a scary thought.

I'm going to absolutely toot my own horn here for a second. We should have ******* drafted Robert Turbin. Hillman has nothing on him so far. Which just makes me even more bitter. We pass on an "injury prone" guy, and land Ronnie. How ironic. Obviously not giving up on Ronnie yet, but ****. The film didn't lie.

our depth is pathetic. absolutely pathetic. if anyone in the front 7 on defense goes down, we'll give up 4.5 million rushing yards per game. and from what i've seen so far of our starters, we're not drastically better with them all healthy. i sincerely hope it's just preseason scheme.

The depth I'm worried about is the OL - we cannot afford a single injury on the line. Our 2nd and 3rd team offenses are a disaster because of the **** OL play. Unless they pick their play up, this final preseason game is going to be a horror show to watch.

I was quite mesmerized by all the drops by the backup receivers against the 49ers. The 4th and 5th spots are wide open at this point, but you'd never know it based on their performance. Caldwell, Willis, Hill, Orton, etc... someone needs to step up bigtime in the next game.

I think the DL has a decent rotation. LB is a bigger problem because of all the youth and DJ's suspension. At the same time, there's potential to go with the youth - Steve Johnson from Kansas had a nice game which is encouraging considering we are sorely lacking at MLB.

Moreno seems like strictly a 3rd down back - catch passes and block. He's decent at those things, but is that enough to keep him on the roster? I would say no. McGahee, Hillman and Ball seem like locks. JJ is a better runner and more explosive. If we keep a FB (which I think we will), then we might only keep 3 other RB's anyway. If Moreno could be traded for a low pick or a veteran LB, I think that would be the best solution.

All that being said, our starters looked good against the 49ers. I guess we just have to pray the team stays healthy.

* Danny Trevathan (#59) and Malik Jackson (#70) are rookies who are making strong bids for not only roster spots, but significant playing time come the regular season. Pretty good return on a 5th and a 6th.

* Caleb Hanie is terrible. No pocket presence and slow decision-making. Either Oz or Weber needs to show something... anything... god dammit.

* It's a shame Virgil Green (#85) has a 4 game suspension to start the season, as he's really stepped up his game as both a receiver and blocker. The other TE taken ahead of him in the same draft, Julius Thomas, looks like he wants his sorry ass cut tomorrow.